Feelings and Faith

I haven't been on here in a while but I thought I would share a few things.

Within this past year, I have been in a season of brokenness. It has been hurtful, hard, and oh so sweet. Looking back, I see that God has been sovereign and perfect through it all. He has never left my side, He has always been there to pick me up. He is good, He is faithful.

A certain theme came about in this season of brokenness:: the difference between feelings and truth, and the battle between my flesh and spirit.

I have learned that feelings are lies. Feelings are fleeting. If we are to rely only on feelings, we will constantly be caught in chaos between our heart and our mind. Sometimes we go through seasons where we can't "feel" God. We can't "feel" His presence or His voice; it's almost as if He isn't there. If we rely on that feeling, we are calling God a liar, we are saying that His word is not true. God says, "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." [Isaiah 41:10]

His word is truth. Galations 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."-- This verse does not say I live by feelings in the Son of God. We are called to live by faith. Even when we don't feel like reading our word or we don't feel God near to us, we must take up the shield of faith and refuse to live by those feelings.

This goes right along with our flesh. All throughout the new testament we see that Paul and others constantly write about the battle between our flesh and our spirit. This never meant much to me until this battle has been made apparent to me every day. Feelings are of the flesh and sin is of the flesh.

I realize that as a girl with many feelings and emotions, my flesh seems to take over most of the time with selfishness and just "hurt feelings". Likewise, as a woman of God, I am called to a higher standard, a standard of faith and continuously putting on Christ about 100+ times a day. It is so important to fight the battle between our flesh and spirit and not allow our flesh to gain control.

Romans 8:13 describes it perfectly, "For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."

Praise God that we don't have to fight the battle alone. It is only by the Spirit that we can defeat it, which means we need Him more than anything. I am thankful for His grace through it all. He is a beautiful, gracious Savior who wants the best for His children. All glory be to God.

Captivated.

He is so sweet. His presence is so good. He is so deserving of our all, our everything!
He has captivated my heart. It is His! I am His and He is mine. Through struggles, through brokenness, through healing. He is worthy of praise! His name will still be praised through it all!

I encourage you all to look back at your life. Look at the sanctification you have endured. Look at the struggles, the dry spots, the times where your heart hurt so bad it could burst. Hasn't He been faithful through it all? Hasn't He always brought His children through and carried them the whole way. He knows what is best!

Like I said, He has captivated my heart. For His kingdom, for the broken, the lost, the hard at heart. He breaks my heart for those who don't know Him. I want everyone to know this love I know! This immaculate, gracious, beautiful King who never stops pursuing, never stops loving, never leaves us!

He is worthy!

Now unto the Lamb who sits on the throne be glory and honor and praise
All of creation resounds with the song
Worship and praise Him the Lord of lords!

I love you all :]
Let Him humble you, be vulnerable in front of Him, be broken in His presence. It's the best place to be, promise.

Nashville

Fourth day in Nashville and I don't want to leave...

Althought the weather is a little crappy, I love this city. It's gorgeous and is so comforting. It's great to have a vacation away from the realities of life and Lubbock for a while!

So far...

I've developed a new obsession with the show How I Met Your Mother (so hilarious and fun, I will be introducing this to my dad when I get home... He would love it!)

Speaking of my dad, I miss him a ton... It's tough not being in the same town as him while he is all drugged up and saying things he would never say. haha... Really though, I wish I was there to take care of him... He's a tough man though!

I experienced a Vandy baseball game with some fellow Lubbockites, which was fun but freezing!
Saw those same friendlies in Franklin yesterday... Yay for frozen yogurt, cupcakes and fun shops!!

I have been to every coffee shop in Nashville I believe... When I'm with Mallory, I think that's all we do... coffee coffee coffee!!

Saw Remember Me last night, super good... I highly recommend it!

Looks like today we will be going to REI (love) and just hanging out on the first nice day since I've been here!

I just love the whole atmosphere of this city! So busy but peaceful at the same time, weird explanation, but you just have to come here and experience it first hand! I think I could live here, but then again, I want to live everywhere!


There will be more posts and pictures to come!!

Love you all :]

Beautiful by Kari Jobe

My prayer for the day...

"Here before Your altar

I am letting go of all I've held

Of every motive, every burden

Everything that's of myself

And I just wanna wait on You, my God

I just wanna dwell on who you are

Beautiful, Beautiful

Oh, I am lost for more to say

Beautiful, Beautiful

Oh Lord You're beautiful to me

Here in Your presence

I am not afraid of brokenness

To wash Your feet with humble tears

I would be poured out till nothing's left

And I just wanna wait on You, my God

I just wanna dwell on who You are

Holy, Holy, Holy You are, You are."

He truly is beautiful! This girl can sing... Go check her out!

Lately...

Quotes like these have filled my soul with so much joy and wonder lately:

"Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may
not understand at the time."
-Oswald Chambers

"The Son reflects God's own glory, and everything about Him represents God
exactly. He sustains the universe by the mighty power of His
command. After He died to cleanse us from the stain of sin, He sat
down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of
heaven."
-Hebrews 1:3

Lately I have been filled with the wonder and mystery of Christ. He is so immeasurable and incomprehensible, it amazes me! He has really been teaching my heart about trust. Trust that He is sovereign. Trust that His plan is good. Trust that He works for my good and His glory. Trust that He holds everything together. Trust in Him and Him alone. Trust is a hard thing to grasp. The basis of trust has to be faith. We must remember that God is faithful at all times and so worthy for us to put our faith in Him. As the quote said above: Faith is deliberate. Faith is something we have to work at, being conscious on our every move. I believe that trust is the same way. We really have to work at trusting that God is sovereign and can take care of every aspect of our lives. It's tough, but so rewarding. With faith and trust in God, there is no room for worry or uneasiness. When are hearts begin to fill uneasy or our minds begin to worry, we are doubting the sovereignty of Christ. We are doubting that He is above all things and has planned out every instance. I am so guilty of doing those things, but He is really working my heart in that place. He is helping me to realize that worry and uneasiness is a sin and completely selfish. He is making me see how self demanding I am, instead of self sacrificing. What a humbling place to be. I must surrender my all to Him, because He knows me better than I know myself. He is trustworthy. He is sovereign. Something that a good friend reminded me of is that God is SEATED! He is seated on His throne in heaven. How wonderful!

"For the Lord God is our light and protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who do what is right. O Lord Almighty, happy are those who trust in
you."
-Psalm 84:11-12

Love you all :]

hopefully soon, I can post some pictures to make this blog more interesting... My ramblings are only enough to handle for so long!

Healing

Today, I feel as though I got hit by a ton of bricks. Those bricks would be the things that are weighing me down, creating so much exhaustion in my life. With these bricks come things such as confusion, disappointment, and discouragement. I realized today that I have been trying my hardest to fight for my own heart, to fight for my own well- being. I learned the hard way, that I am not capable to do so. I heard this analogy that through the years everything that hurts us or causes us grief can build up around us to make one huge air balloon. One thing happens and the balloon gets bigger, the next thing comes along and it gets even bigger to the point where it will surely pop if one other thing hits you the wrong way. It's a balloon of denial and not wanting to deal with the hurt. That is why God decides to give us days to let out some helium, to heal our hearts in those broken places. Man, it is painful. It's the kind of day that you never want to face, but when its all said and done there is peace and healing for the broken hearts. Today is God's day for me to let out some helium. He has brought my attention to many things dating back to when I was in 3rd grade that I haven't quite dealt with yet. Wow, 3rd grade. He has shown me that sometimes he allows us to go on our merry way and try to fix our own problems and guard our own hearts so that we may see we can't do it, we need Him. We are merely human. He has placed people in my life to offer up encouragement and really, honestly tell me the next step. That next step is healing. I need to heal from all the hurt I have felt since the 3rd grade up to the past 3 months. He has been healing me little by little, but sometimes we all need those helium days to open up our eyes to things we may be missing. At the other side of this helium day is rest, so I don't have to wear myself out day by day guarding my heart and mind. He has got that all covered. I must trust, I must be still and know that He is God. Brokenness is good. It's time to heal.

Hello Blog World!

Hello!



I'm not quite sure how to handle this thing just yet, but I'll figure it out!



For starters, I named the blog Dwell Richly because of a song we sometimes sing in the service at church. It's all about Christ dwelling in us. The way I picture this happening is dwelling in His word, in His grace, in His power daily, and He will, in turn, dwell in us. Sometimes we dwell on the past or on the future. I think its so satisfying to dwell in Christ and think about who He truly is; thanking Him for all He has done. So, dwell richly.



What's been going on lately:



I have been learning learning and learning!! God is really molding my heart, my mind, and my soul to exactly what He desires for me and what He wants my life to look like. It's pretty humbling, I must say, but so cool at the same time. It's awesome to feel transformed and more whole each day! I've been learning a TON about faith... about great men and women of faith, about what faith really is, and about how to put it into practice. It's challenging but super sweet! I've also been learning that my main focus right now should be about pursuing Christ and His kingdom alone! I want to delight in Him, find my joy, comfort, peace, and satisfaction in Him alone! I'm learning how to trust Him more in EVERY situation of my life! See, lots of learning!

Well I guess that's all I've got for now! Definitely more to come!



Love :]